Dark Knight
by cavlik97
Summary: "And then there's Ward. Skye knows she trusts him with her life. And that, she is sure, is a very, very dangerous thing." skyeward, post 1x07 the hub


By that evening, Skye, Ward and Fitzsimmons all end up on the couches of the main sitting area of the bus, four different boxes of pizza in front of them because they all have different preferences, luckily being able to agree on the same movie to watch – (Batman). Fitzsimmons are on one couch, Skye and Ward on the other, the television blaring Christian Bale's ridiculously deep voice through fairly expensive speakers.

It's late and Skye is well aware that she and Ward are sitting _much _closer to each other than should be tolerated but after the day they've had, she can't bring herself to care too much. His arm is touching hers and she's got her legs tucked under her, leaning slightly against him and he's so strong that she's pretty sure that he can barely notice her resting her weight on him.

The plane is warm because Coulson cranked up the heating when the temperature plummeted by the evening. The only noise Skye can hear in the room is the blasting television, the crackling of the packet of doritos in Fitz's lap and Ward's quiet breathing beside her. It's loud and yet so peaceful at the same time. Honestly, Skye doesn't think she can remember the last time she felt this at home. Relaxed. _Wanted. _

'You okay?' Ward asks suddenly in a hushed voice.

'Hm?' Skye says in surprise. 'What? Oh – yeah. Why?'

'Nothing – you just went kind of stiff for a second.'

Skye tries to smother a small smile. So he _has _noticed that she's half pressed up against him. Oops. 'I'm fine,' she assures him, returning her attention to the movie. She can feel his eyes lingering on her though, the left side of his mouth curved upwards in a small, crooked smile that _actually _reaches up to the robot's eyes. She may have to reconsider giving him that nickname if he carries on acting like this. His gaze finally diverts away from her and back to Gotham. Skye remembers seeing this movie a million times after it came out – (she had illegally downloaded it, too excited to wait till it came out on DVD) – so takes a moment to look away from the movie and survey Fitzsimmons on the other couch. Simmons is stealing Fitz's doritos every few minutes and Fitz keeps tapping her hand lightly but Skye can see him biting back a grin each time.

They're actually really cute, she realises. Maybe she should convince Ward to help her play matchmaker.

'Oi,' she whispers, poking him in the arm.

'Ow!' he mutters. 'What?'

'I want you to help me with something.'

He raises a suspicious eyebrow. 'Yes...?'

Skye smirks, nodding her head towards the engineering and biochem duo. 'Help me play matchmaker,' she says.

Ward looks scandalised at first but a grin slowly makes its way onto his face and coughs down a chuckle.

'Is that a yes?' Skye demands, tugging his sleeve.

'Maybe – I'll consider it.'

'_Please._ Look at them. They're so cute. Fitz being all worried about her during the whole virus shenanigan, Simmons being all worried about him when you guys went on today's mission.'

'It's normal to worry about your team,' says Ward with a shrug. 'You worried about me today, didn't you?'

'Sure but that's different,' Skye says with a roll of her eyes. 'You're my S.O. – if you died, no more SHIELD for me.'

'I'm touched.'

'Oh shut up, you know what I mean. Of course I was worried. That's why I convinced Simmons to help me break like, ten thousand SHIELD protocols to check your mission status.'

Ward's face softened. 'Yeah, so I heard. You guys were that worried about us?'

Skye felt a blush spread over her cheeks. 'Well...we knew something wasn't right.'

Ward smiles again. 'Thanks.'

Skye shrugs and out of nowhere, her skin starts tingling where their arms are touching. Her stomach feels like there's something fluttering in it and Skye feels her cheeks burn with a continuing blush. Suddenly, her heart starts pounding in her ears. She remembers the last time she felt like this.

Around Miles.

Her chest tightens as she thinks about him. She hasn't given that son of a bitch a single thought since his betrayal was revealed and she had been hoping to keep it that way, but all at once, the memories and the hurt come rushing at her in full. And a realisation. Panic settles in the pit of her stomach. No, no, no, no – she can't feel like this about Ward. He _obviously _has intimacy, emotional and trust issues. She'd just get hurt.

Skye swallows and darts off the couch, hurrying out of the sitting room and ignoring the curious gazes from Fitzsimmons and the worried glance Ward gives her. She doesn't stop until she's in a separate corridor altogether, assured that Coulson is in his office, May is in the cockpit and the other 3 are still focused on the movie. Then, she covers her mouth with her hand and lets out a muffled cry, sliding down the wall until she's crouched on the ground, her body wracked with sobs that she'd pushed down for weeks now. Her entire body shakes and she can barely breathe.

_Everyone _who she _ever _loved has always left her.

She shouldn't have come on this plane, she figures. She's already close with Simmons. They've had plenty of girl talks in the last couple of weeks. Fitz feels like a little brother to her – he's so sweet all the time. Even though she never says anything, Skye knows May has her back. The fact that Coulson found dirt on her parents has given Skye 100% trust in the man.

And then there's Ward.

Skye knows she trusts him with her life. And that, she is sure, is a very, very dangerous thing.

Suddenly, she feels herself pulled into strong, familiar arms beside her. She feels like she should resist after her revelation but she's still crying so hard that she can't breathe and she can't even get a word out or find the resolve to pull away so just ends up burying her face in the crook of his neck as he holds her tightly. Eventually, her breathing evens and she feels the panic subside slightly. She knows that he can sense she's calming down but his arms don't move from around her.

'What's wrong?' he murmurs into her hair.

'It just hit me,' she replies, her voice muffled by her face still against his shirt. He loosens his hold a bit, moving back so he can look at her.

'What did?' he asks quietly.

'The thing with Miles. I've been making myself forget it for weeks. I guess it all just – came back.' She wipes her eyes roughly with her palms, sudden shame and embarrassment flooding through her at the state she's in. Even in foster care, she always did her best not to cry. It was a sign of weakness, and in the system, weaknesses were easily exploited by stronger, more persuasive kids.

'Sorry about all this,' she mumbles, sniffing and sliding away but his hands catch her wrists and pull her back towards him.

'It's okay Skye,' he assures. 'You're not in the Tide anymore though. You're allowed to let us see who you are. And I'm your S.O. I need to know where your emotional weak points are to train you so that they don't get used against you in the field.'

Skye nods. Of course. Supervising officer. Professionalism. _That's _why he's here.

Ward tilts her chin upwards so that she meets his eyes. 'And I care about you,' he says softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 'I could see something was wrong when you left before.'

Skye ducked her head, not wanting him to see the tears that pricked her eyes again. _Stop him_, her mind was screaming. _Stop letting him get this close. Stop it or you're going to get hurt._

'Skye look at me,' Ward says firmly, surprising her by taking her face in both his hands and forcing her to fix her gaze on him. 'Talk to me.'

'I can't – ' Skye says finally, her hands colliding with his hard chest and pushing him backwards, scrambling to her feet and making a move to run to her bunk and lock the door but his instincts have him on his feet seconds after her and he steps in front of her, blocking the doorway.

'There's something else,' he says bluntly. 'More than Miles. What is it?'

'Why do you want to know?' she snaps back, surprised at the – _is that hurt? _– on his face. She shakes her head, stepping back and running her fingers through her hair in frustration. 'It's _you_!' she shouts. 'You almost died today Grant! That's what! I was _terrified. _Because I was in this big, stupid building of rules and regulations and levels and you were out there, they were going to let you die, and there was almost nothing I could've done about it if May and Coulson hadn't stepped in! You're not allowed to die, you're supposed to be fine and always make it through all the battles! I can't lose you too!'

Her voice cracks on the last word and she feels her legs get ready to give away again but his arms lock around her waist and hers find themselves looping around his neck and she feels him almost lift her off the ground in a hug even tighter than the one he'd given her before. He's breathing as heavily and she is and she thinks she can feel his heart pounding in his chest.

'I'm still here Skye,' he promises so quietly that she isn't sure he's said it at first. 'I'm still here and I'm not going to leave you. Not now, not ever. You can trust me.'

'I'm so scared to trust you,' she confesses, curling her fingers around the material of his shirt.

'I know,' he replies gently. 'But you can. And you will when you're ready.'

'No, you don't understand,' whispers Skye. 'I _already _trust you. That's what I'm scared about.'

He manages a hoarse chuckle, releasing her and offering her that handsome smile. 'I know you haven't trusted many people in the past,' he says sincerely, 'but you can trust us. Everyone in this plane will do everything in their power to help you become a SHIELD agent and watch your back. Especially me.'

'Especially you?'

Ward shrugs, squeezing her hand briefly and nodding towards the sitting room where Batman is still blaring through Coulson's prized speaker set. 'Think of me as your dark knight.'

Skye lets out a guffawed laugh, pushing away any remaining unease and letting him drag her back into the room and onto the couch.

Relaxed.

Wanted.

Fitzsimmons banter.

Pizza and movie nights.

Ward being her 'dark knight'.

Skye grins. Yeah... she'll be okay.


End file.
